Severus Snape: Man of Mystery?
by Caz251
Summary: Summary: Severus Snape's secret life unveiled. Pre-slash. HP/SS. Crossdressing. AU as of end of Order of the Phoenix. Rated as M for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Severus Snape - Man of Mystery?  
****Author: Caz251  
****Summary: Severus Snape's secret life unveiled. Pre-slash. AU as of end of Order of the Phoenix  
****Characters: Severus Snape, Harry Potter, mentions of Hogwarts staff, Order, Death Eaters, Gryffindors and Weasleys  
Spoilers: General Spoilers nothing specific  
Warnings: Crossdressing, pre-slash  
DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately I don't own Harry Potter, I'm just playing in JK's sandbox. I own nothing but the plot, please don't sue, I'm a penniless student.**

**AN: This was one of my projects for WriaDaNo June.**

Severus Snape was many different things to many different people. To Lily Evans he had been her first magical friend, her only link to the magical world as a child. To the Marauders he had been a childhood foe, and in some cases an adulthood enemy. Throughout his life he had been lots of things, a loyal Death Eater who spied on the light for his Lord, a repentant Death Eater who spied on the Dark Lord for Dumbledore. A member of the Potions Guild with the title Potions Master, the Head of Slytherin House, and many other things dependent on who spoke of him. However, all anyone really ever saw of Severus Snape was what he wished for them to see, a mask that he would use to conceal himself behind, showing only what the person expected to see.

Severus Snape was many things, a half-blood and a Slytherin being only a few of those things, however these helped him become the one thing he was above all, a Master of Disguise. Coming from a mixed family as he had Severus straddled both the muggle and wizarding worlds as he grew up, learning of both and gaining knowledge of anything that may help him in life. Being a Slytherin only added an extra dimension to him, allowing him to hone both his ambition and his cunning, sharpening his skills and using them as tools of his trade. With the knowledge Severus had of both worlds he found it easy to blend in when necessary and stand out when he wished, his masks changing depending on the situation.

Not many people knew it, but they had never met the real Severus Snape, the man beneath the masks. Severus' masks were only ever put away when he was in private, his act only changing pandering to the whims of whoever's presence he was in. Nearly everyone had their own expectations of Snape and he tried to live up to them, Voldemort wanted a subservient Snape, that's what he got. Dumbledore wanted a repentant Snape, the students expected an unbearable Snape who favoured his own house. Longbottom expected a scary and overbearing Snape, Snape never did disappoint, and Potter expected a bitter, angry and twisted Snape. Those who did know that they had never met the man behind the masks, knew that they never would, knowing that someone as skilled as Severus was would never slip up in his act.

However, a life hidden behind masks, masks of other peoples making, is a life that one could easily get tired of. Severus had led such a life since he was a child, leading this type of life he had to have a way to escape from that existence, a form of escapism, if not an escape plan in case his masks fell and his disguises crumbled. Severus did have such an outlet, one that no-one who believe of him, and one that he would never admit to those he knew. This outlet did however give him a chance to remove the masks made by other people to fit him and to let his hair done some and enjoy himself.

Severus' form of escapism was one of his most closely guarded secrets, no-one in the wizarding world knew. He had told no-one of his precious form of release from the life he led, he had only once ever considered telling someone, that someone being his best friend Lily Evans.

Severus had taken up this, well to him, hobby around the summer before his fifth year at Hogwarts and had been considering telling Lily but he had destroyed their friendship before he was able. After that never again did the thought of sharing his secret cross his mind, he did everything he could to hide his secret.

He wasn't worried about any of the purebloods finding out, they weren't likely to enter the muggle world unless absolutely necessary, neither where many of the wizard-raised half bloods. His problem was the muggleborn, and the muggle-raised, not so much the younger ones, but the ones that where older and still had feet in both worlds like he did. Exposure of his secret was never to happen, which made him resent the power those few students from muggle backgrounds had over him, the fact that some day one of them may figure him out seemed almost too much to bare. These students got the worst of his bad temper taken out on them just to make the worry of exposure a bit less worrisome, he could at least make their lives hell if they tried to expose his secret.

Although the wizarding war with Voldemort was not a good thing, the fact that Severus was thought to be a spy for both sides, when in actual fact a spy for the light, almost made it a good thing as it made sneaking away to enjoy his hobby easier. No-one would ask where he was if he wasn't around they would just expect him to either be in his dungeons brewing potions or in the enemy camp gathering information.

The wizarding war had ended now though, the war coming to a close just before the start of Harry Potter's seventh year at Hogwarts. The famed Boy-who-lived with the help of Dumbledore and his order, Snape included, had raided Riddle Manor after a series of systematic attacks eliminating Voldemort's forces. The few remaining Death Eaters, members of Voldemort's Inner Circle, were taken care of by the order members, whilst Potter and Dumbledore had fought the Dark Lord. It wasn't completely sure to anyone there, who struck the killing blow and neither of the wizards were telling, something that infuriated Snape to no end. Spending so many years as a spy made his need to know everything greater, as any piece of information, no matter how trivial, may one day save his life.

Almost a year had past since that day, a full school year at least, the graduation ceremony was not long over, the Hogwarts Express had left Hogsmeade Station. These things all added up to mean that Hogwarts and most importantly Snape were now free of Harry Potter. Intending to enjoy himself and indulge in his hobby in celebration, Snape left Hogwarts after the graduation ceremony to have a night of fun.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry Potter had just graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, now most teenagers would be happy about this, Harry on the other hand was most put out. Throughout his years at Hogwarts there had always been some mystery or other to solve, and he and his friends had always managed to piece it together by the end of the year. The mystery he had come across this year however remained unsolved, not only that, but none of his friends believed him when he told them that something was going on.

To understand this we need to go back to the beginning of the school year, after just having been part of killing someone, murderer or not, Harry was not completely calm or his normal self. His paranoia over his friends had also grown, to him this was reasonable, during the war there were at least lines of distinction between who was friend and enemy, something that no longer existed. Because of this paranoia Harry was unable to sleep, not knowing whether or not his friends were safe, determined to reassure himself he had pulled out the Marauder's Map to check that all his friends were safe in their beds.

Once he saw that they were, he started to check the rest of the castle for intruders, noticing Snape going back to the dungeons was nothing unusual, except for the fact that he almost appeared to be touching the wall and walking as slowly as possible, maybe in an attempt to keep quiet. That was definitely not normal Snape behaviour in Harry's book, Snape would be billowing down the middle of the corridor, not caring about how much noise he made or anyone he may disturb, but with the war over there was no need for Snape to be sneaking around, unless he was up to something.

Knowing that there was nothing he could do about it he check once more on his friends before whispering, 'Mischief Managed', clearing the Marauder's Map, and turning over to try and sleep, after deciding to inform his friends of this development the next day. His dreams were plagued with many different scenarios as to what Snape may be up to, each as implausible as the next, there was no way that Snape would be trying to take over all the lemon drop factories in the world, unless he was on a mission for Dumbledore.

Harry managed to wait until after dinner when they were gathered in the common room to mention Snape, not wanting to have drawn attention to himself by any of the staff, Snape in particular, by running up to Hermione and crying that Snape was up to something. When he did explain his suspicions to his friends he did not get the reaction he wanted, Hermione began to berate him for carrying on his stupid vendetta against the professor, telling him that professor Snape was firmly on their side and whatever he did in his spare time was his business, Ginny agreed with her. To Harry's amazement, Ron didn't automatically side with Harry, calling Snape a greasy Slytherin git, but instead kept silent throughout the whole affair.

Later on in the dorm however was another story, Ron had watched with Harry as Snape snuck back down to the dungeons, this time Harry saw where he had come from. Snape had been somewhere off of the castle grounds and was sneaking back in, he was definitely up to something in Harry's mind. When he mentioned this to Ron, he looked at him as if he was mad, "Harry," Ron replied, "Don't you think your taking this a bit far, Snape isn't doing anything suspicious, he's finally getting laid."

When Harry had tried to protest, Ron had countered his arguments by saying that if he was right Snape would be in a better mood in class the next day. In potions, Snape was in a good mood, Harry believed this to be because his plans were coming to fruition, Ron was positive he was getting some. It was at that point that Harry's mission to find out what Snape was up to became a solo mission, all plans and data gathered being kept a secret until the mission was complete and he can prove that he was right.

Not that he had been able to do anything, as a student he was unable to leave the Hogwarts grounds without permission, and Harry doubted the either Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall would give him permission so that he could follow Professor Snape. When graduation came, no matter how annoyed he was at his lack of progress, Harry was at least heartened by the fact that he could now follow Snape to wherever it was he went. Placing a subtle tracking charm on Snape, one that was apparently untraceable and could only be removed by the caster, a spell that he had found in a book in the Potter Vault at Gringotts.

Leaving Hogwarts after the graduation ceremony Harry headed home to the flat he had bought himself in London, a flat that he had had well warded in an attempt to keep away any reporters or crazed fans. He had a shower then changed into some smart-casual clothing, not knowing where Snape would be going, but hoping to blend in before applying a glamour charm so that he wouldn't be recognised. Then he had to wait for Snape to make a move, before he could follow him.

When Snape had finally left Hogwarts he apparated straight to a destination, after waiting ten minutes to see if he left that place or not, Harry apparated to where the tracking charm was telling him Snape was, as knowing Snape he'd probably apparate to a series of places before a final destination to throw off a tail. Although the tracking charm was perfect for use on Severus Snape as the sneaky man would be unable to detect it, it was not a very accurate charm, giving only the general location of the person being tracked, meaning that Harry would have to find Snape once he arrived to find out what he was up to.

The destination Harry arrived at was definitely not what he had been expecting, he was outside a muggle club, Cabaret Club, a club he had heard his aunt Petunia talk about. Cabaret Club was a very high end music club in London, and one of the largest in the UK. Deciding that the only thing he could do would be to go in and try and find Snape he entered the club, looking around he saw that there must be at least a hundred round tables filling the club facing a large stage with the bar to one side of the room.

Harry spent a good few hours there, only leaving once the tracking charm had indicated that Snape was back at Hogwarts, he felt dejected having been unable to find him anywhere in the crowd. What was Snape up to and what had he been doing in a muggle cabaret club anyway. Harry continued to follow Snape every night, always ending up back in the same cabaret club without any leads as to where the man was hiding.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a year, a year to the day since Voldemort had been defeated, and Harry and his male friends from Gryffindor house were crowded into the kitchen at the Burrow. Seamus Finnegan was trying to convince the group that consisted of Harry's dorm mates, the Weasley twins and Oliver Wood, that they needed to go out drinking to commemorate the anniversary. When the men had given their token protests, various girlfriends and partners being in the next room, Seamus brought out his trump card.

"Come on, we have to do something." Seamus whined. "It's been a year, a whole year of peace, we should celebrate. Harry there hasn't been out in weeks, look at him he needs a night out."

Harry was sat at one end of the table looking depressed, the reason, he had been out every night since graduation trying to find out what Snape was up to and was still coming up with nothing. At Seamus' words all protest from the others stopped, Seamus no longer needing to cajole them into coming, not that they hadn't already wanted to go, but they had needed a valid reason or excuse to go out, so as to get out past their girlfriends, or in Ron and the twins case mother. After all, cheering Harry up was something that none of the women would deny anyone in the group from trying. So Harry found himself on the anniversary of Voldemort's defeat on a pub crawl led by the Irish wizard.

Before they left the Burrow Mrs. Weasley had fed them a large meal so that they were not drinking on an empty stomach. From there Seamus led them to their starting point, a club that had been recommended to him by some muggle friends of his. That was how Harry came to be standing once more outside of Cabaret Club.

They entered the club getting an available table near the back a waitress appearing almost immediately to take their orders. Harry knew that Snape was in the building somewhere, the tracking charm still being active, however there was no way he could look for him with the other Gryffindors there, not that he had found him on any of his previous trips.

Having frequented the club rather a lot in the last month or so Harry knew the line up of singers rather well, they had arrived just before the main act would take to the stage, a rather talented woman named Serena. The woman had an amazing voice, and according to his friends when she took the stage she also had an amazing body, not that that interested Harry. They stayed to watch Serena's whole performance, she being the reason Seamus' friends had recommended the club.

During her last song there was some jeering from a group of men who were standing at the back of the club, she continued to sing as if nothing had happened, always the performer, she did however glare at them from the stage. Harry caught the glare in the woman's eyes and was ever so glad that his friends were more interested in 'Serena' from the chest down, as he realised exactly who 'Serena' was, after all the time he had spent in this club looking for Snape he'd been in full view of everyone all along.

After 'Serena' finished her last song Seamus had dragged them on to their next part of the Seamus Finnegan Booze-up Experience, they had spent the rest of the night going from bar to bar. Conversation was stuck to just two topics, the lack of Voldemort to ruin their evening and how beautiful 'Serena' was. Harry stayed out of both conversations as much as he possibly could, he didn't want to talk about Voldemort and the idea of his very straight friends ogling Snape was just too bizarre to be real.


	4. Chapter 4

The next free night Harry had, he once again donned his glamour and made his way to Cabaret Club, with the intention of speaking with 'Serena' after she finished her set. He'd spoken to her before as each of the performers waitress for a bit once they come off stage, he took a seat at the bar knowing that as the star of the show 'she' never went into the crowd, but served people from behind the bar. Harry managed to strike up a conversation with her, knowing who 'Serena' really was helped him with what to say to catch her attention. Before he knew it, he had done what he set out to accomplish, he'd arranged to meet Serena to talk about a deal he had for her.

Harry had given Snape the address of muggle/wizard cafe bookshop on the opposite side of London to Diagon Alley, he'd arrived early to wait for Snape and had watched from under a different glamour as Snape arrived. He saw 'Serena' take in her surroundings looking for him, and when unable to spot him made her way into the stacks of books. He then watched as she came away from the books, making her way to the counter to ask about him, describing him to the clerk. That was easily taken care of, the clerk telling her that her companion had called and was running late, but had steered her over to Harry's favourite table.

Harry then snuck out of the shop and into a nearby alleyway where he removed his glamour before re-entering the cafe, heading straight for his table and sitting down opposite 'Serena'. "Hello, Professor Snape." He spoke, the smile could be heard in his voice. "Imagine, all the time I spent looking for you in that club, you had been in plain view the whole time."

The look on Snape's face was priceless, the whole deer caught in headlights look, making 'Serena' look even more endearing. "H-How?" He stuttered, "How did you know?" This was definitely not going as Severus had planned, he had come to speak with the young man who he'd become rather fond of through their conversations over the last few months, to find out if her was worth revealing his secret to.

Harry then explained how he had seen Severus on the Marauder's Map and his determination to find out what he had been sneaking about for, but had been unable to follow him as a student. He then confessed to putting a tracking charm on him at the graduation ceremony and following him nearly every night since. Snape had growled at him when he had let him know this, but he didn't reach for his wand, so Harry continued his tale.

"I spent weeks searching for you in that club, trying to find out what you were up to, it was driving me insane how once you arrived there you completely disappeared." Harry spoke. He then explained about Seamus' drinking excursion and how he had seen the glare that he had sent the group of men at the back of the club and realised exactly who 'Serena' really was. He also informed Severus that none of the Gryffindors had noticed and that he was the only one that knew.

Severus sighed before looking up at Harry through his eyelashes, "What do you want for your silence?" he asked, an air of defeat surrounding him.

Harry didn't understand it, he didn't like women, but there was something rather cute and endearing about 'Serena'. His thoughts in turmoil, knowing that if he thought of 'Serena' as female, he would have to re-declare his sexuality, but if he thought of 'Serena' as a man in drag, he'd have to admit even just to himself that he was attracted to Severus Snape of all people.

Realising that Snape had asked him what he wanted to keep quiet he thought of an answer, but didn't want to force Snape to have to be in his company so he intoned clearly and precisely, "I, Harry James Potter, do hereby swear on my magic, that I will not tell anyone of Severus Snape's alter ego without his permission to do so. So mote it be."

Snape sat stock still, shocked at the action, Harry had just sworn himself to silence on the issue without asking for anything return. That was definitely not what Severus had expected of a Potter. He nodded at him before standing to make his way out of the little cafe bookstore, he was stopped by the sound of Potter's voice.

"There is something that I want from you though.", Harry said, hoping that Snape would agree, so that he could try to work out his attraction towards the man.

"What?" Severus asked, resignation could be heard in his voice.

Harry smiled, "Lessons."

A startled look appeared in Severus' eyes before it disappeared, his face becoming a blank canvas, "Lessons?"


End file.
